Learning to Breathe Underwater — My SSI Open Water Certification

I've always been drawn to the ocean. There's something about being underwater — the silence, the weightlessness, the way the light bends through the water — that has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. So when the opportunity came to get certified while in Singapore, I didn't think twice.

I signed up with Gill Divers, one of Singapore's most established dive schools, and enrolled in the SSI Open Water Diver course — the internationally recognized entry-level certification that opens up the whole underwater world to you.

The Instructors & Team

I was lucky. My water instructor was a friend — Ernest Tan — and having someone you trust guide you through your first real underwater experience makes all the difference.

Ernest is a genuinely great teacher. He has this rare ability to make you feel calm in situations that would otherwise feel completely foreign. Underwater, breathing through a regulator for the first time, with equipment strapped to your back — it should feel overwhelming. With Ernest, it felt natural within minutes.

He didn't rush any of it. Every skill was explained clearly, demonstrated patiently, and practiced until it felt second nature. The kind of instructor who doesn't just teach you the course — he makes sure you actually love diving by the end.

Alongside Ernest, Junhao was another instructor in the water with us — an extra set of experienced eyes watching over the group during pool and open water sessions. And before we ever got wet, Mitch handled the classroom side of things, walking us through the theory lessons: dive physics, equipment knowledge, hand signals, emergency procedures. Mitch made the written material engaging and easy to absorb — the kind of foundation that makes everything in the water make sense.

The Crew

It wasn't just our Open Water group at the pool — there was a whole crew around us, each at different stages of their diving journey. That energy of everyone learning and pushing together made the whole experience feel bigger than just a certification course.

Instructors & Theory

Open Water Students

Advanced Course Friends

Malcolm, Crystal, Imran, and Nur — each from different backgrounds, all there for the same reason. We pushed each other through the tricky parts, laughed at the awkward ones, and cheered when everyone made it through. One of those groups you're genuinely glad you ended up with.

Then there were Lance, Junyuan, and Arthur — friends who were already a step ahead, working through their Advanced Open Water certification while we were doing our Open Water. Watching them gear up and head out was a sneak preview of what comes next, and honestly one of the best motivators to get certified fast.

Pool Training

Before you touch open water, SSI puts you through confined water training — and we did ours in the company's pool. Two sessions, each with a very different energy.

Session 1 — The Swim Test

The first session was straightforward: a swim test. Nothing fancy — just proving you're comfortable in the water before anyone straps a tank to your back. Tread water, swim a distance, show you're not going to freeze up. It's a filter, and a fair one. After that, we got our first introduction to the gear and the theory of what was coming next.

Session 2 — Equipment in the Water

The second session was the real thing. Full scuba gear, in the pool, breathing underwater for the first time. This is where the course actually begins — mask clearing, regulator recovery, hand signals, buoyancy basics. Ernest walked us through each skill methodically, making sure everyone was comfortable before moving on.

The pool is where you confront the reality of breathing underwater. Your brain keeps screaming this is wrong every time you exhale through the regulator and watch the bubbles float up without following them. You learn to ignore that instinct. You learn to trust the equipment.

The Fin Incident — Session 2

I have to be honest about this one, because it's probably the most memorable moment of the entire pool training — for the wrong reasons.

During the equipment session, one of my fins was too loose. Didn't fit properly. And at some point underwater, it slipped off.

And I panicked.

Not a little bit. Properly panicked. The second that fin came off, my brain completely short-circuited. One fin gone, suddenly asymmetric, my kick off-balance — and underwater, where everything already feels unfamiliar, that was enough to send me into full alarm mode. I shot up toward the surface on pure instinct, heart hammering, absolutely convinced something had gone terribly wrong.

Ernest was right there. Calm as anything. He signalled me to stop, held the fin up in front of my face — see? I have it, it's fine — and gestured slowly: breathe. Just breathe. He kept eye contact the whole time, completely steady, not a trace of concern on his face. And somehow that was enough to pull me back.

We went back down. He handed me the fin. I put it back on, properly this time. We carried on. I was fine — and genuinely glad Ernest was there.

I laugh about it now. Everyone in the group had their moment — some struggled with mask clearing, others with equalizing. Mine was a loose fin. The pool is exactly the right place for those moments to happen, which is the whole point.

Open Water Dives

The pool prepared us well. But nothing fully prepares you for the moment you roll backwards off the boat and sink beneath the surface of the open ocean.

After the pool sessions in Singapore, we headed to Malaysia for the open water dives — five dives across two days in September 2025. The sites: Pulau Tumuk, Pirate Reef, Renggis Island, and Blue Bubble House Reef. Each one completely different. All of them beautiful.

The dive sites were gorgeous. Genuinely. The kind of beautiful that makes you wish you could stay longer than your air allows. Visibility was good, the water was warm, and there was life everywhere — fish darting between coral, things you've only seen in documentaries moving slowly past you like you're the tourist (you are).

And then — a blacktip reef shark. Cruising past us, completely unbothered, like we weren't even there. Sleek, effortless, absolutely gorgeous. Nobody panicked. Ernest had prepared us — reef sharks are not a threat, they're a privilege. We just hovered still and watched it glide by. One of those moments that hits you properly only after you surface.

We completed our required open water dives as a group, with Ernest leading the way. The skills practiced in the pool transferred to the real environment smoothly, which is the whole point of the SSI approach — by the time you're in the ocean, your body already knows what to do.

The Equalization Problem — Pirate Reef

My right ear did not want to cooperate. Equalizing — that pinch-and-blow technique you use to balance the pressure in your ears as you descend — was straightforward on my left side. My right ear was a completely different story. Every meter down felt like it was pushing back, refusing to clear no matter how many times I tried.

At Pirate Reef, it got serious. I was lagging behind on the descent, stuck at depth, working my jaw, tilting my head, trying everything. Junhao was right there with me. He didn't let me give up on it — kept signalling, kept guiding me through the technique, patient but firm. Keep going. You've got it.

Eventually it cleared. I descended. And Pirate Reef was worth every second of that struggle.

Buoyancy is the thing that takes the most time. In the pool you get the basics, but in open water you start to feel it properly — that floating, weightless state where you're not sinking, not rising, just there. It's meditative in a way I didn't expect.

Dive Log

Certified

The SSI Open Water certification is internationally recognized and never expires. It's a passport to dive sites all over the world — up to 18 meters depth, with a buddy, anywhere on the planet.

What's Next — Advanced Open Water, Bali

Getting certified doesn't feel like an ending — it feels exactly like what it is: a beginning. And apparently Ernest agrees, because for Christmas, he gave me the SSI Advanced Open Water course as a gift. The whole thing — kit, course, the works. That's the kind of friend Ernest is.

The plan: take the Advanced in Bali, Indonesia. We're working out when, but it's happening. Advanced Open Water means deeper dives (up to 30m), navigation, night diving, peak performance buoyancy — a proper step up from the fundamentals. Bali has world-class dive sites all over it, so the setting is going to be something else.

Beyond that — the Philippines is right there. Tubbataha, Apo Island, Puerto Galera, Coron. Sites I used to just read about. Now I can actually go.

Ernest, Junhao, Mitch — thank you for being such great teachers. Malcolm, Crystal, Imran, Nur — great people to share this with. Lance, Junyuan, Arthur — for the motivation to keep going. This is a trip I won't forget.

If you're on the fence about getting certified — just do it. The pool training is the hardest mental hurdle. Once you're in open water, you'll understand immediately why people get obsessed with diving. The ocean has a way of making everything else feel very, very small.